The Pacific sand crab is tiny - a little over an inch long at most. But shorebirds love to eat them and constantly patrol the the tideline to find crabs buried in the sand.

NPS: Sand Crabs on Santa Rosa Island

A figure showing the trends in the density of sand crabs on Santa Rosa Island from 1994 to 2015. Figure credit: Channel Islands National Park.

A figure showing the trends in the density of sand crabs on Santa Rosa Island from 1994 to 2015. Figure credit: Channel Islands National Park.

Click for Details Mean density of sand crabs Emerita analoga from surveys of eight beaches on Santa Rosa Island from 1994–2015. Curved blue line represents the statistically smoothed mean. For more information, consult Figure App.F.12.4 in the CINMS 2016 Condition Report.